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| A Most Superlative Book? |
I'll be the first to admit that, although I consider myself to be quite fluent in English, it was not my first language. I grew up with Sinhala (or Sinhalese) as my first language and learned English as a second language. As a result, I am very hesitant to correct other people's English.
However, I was taught certain rules about comparative and superlative words, including the rule that the superlative form of a word showed the ultimate level or degree. So, when I saw the title of this book, on sale at the drug store, I just had to take a picture of it to share! I was taught that it should be "funny, funnier, and funniest". Does "most funniest" indicate that the jokes are funnier than the funniest?
My mother taught English among other subjects, including an English as a Second Language course at a university. I wonder what she would have thought about this book title? Friday, October 18, was the anniversary of her birthday. I remembered how happy she was when my daughter and I surprised her with a birthday cake and pizza (she loved pizza) on her 85th birthday. We didn't realize that it would be the last birthday she'd celebrate.
I took it easy, today, and got my Covid vaccination. It was while I was waiting to be vaccinated that I saw the book that is pictured above. I didn't want to take the flu vaccine at the same time, so, made an appointment for that for next week. This time around, I didn't get the urge to shop side effect! LOL. I did receive a free bag of blue corn tortilla chips for getting vaccinated and a coupon for $5 off $20 purchase at the store.
Later, M tended to the garden and he brought me two cuttings of a variegated jade plant and a "blue" jade plant.
I spoke with Aunt C and texted with cousin N. Later, I called former neighbor T's daughter K and got an update on T.
On Friday, I was grateful for:
- Memories of my mother and being able to think of her and remember the good times without crying
- Being able to get my Covid vaccine and schedule the flu vaccine
- A free bag of tortilla chips
- M's help with the garden and gifts of plant cuttings
- Phone calls with family and friends
Friday's joyful activity was video chatting with my daughter.
Plans for Saturday include friend R coming over to collect her packages; I offered to bring them to her, but, she insisted that she wanted to visit me.
What are your plans for the weekend?
I think when you're selling a joke book, you're not worrying about grammar. Another one is "favorite". If something is your favorite, by definition, it is the one you like the best. But it is common, to say "more favorite". Anyway, I'm glad you were able to have fond memories of your mother on her birthday. BTW, I got a bag of popcorn when I got my flu shot. :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose you are right. Even so, one would think that book publishers would make it a point to offer grammatically correct English.
DeleteThank you, June.
I hope you enjoyed your bag of popcorn; I enjoyed my tortilla chips. :)
I have two superlative pet peeve that makes my ears jangle: "You are the funnest cousin". I hear it often and it drives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteThe other I hear mainly from folks who are young adults. Goodest is another ear jangler.
I have heard "funner" and "funnest". Can't say I've heard "goodest", although, I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense, given how strange English grammar can be. "Good, better, best" vs. "good, gooder, goodest". It's a living language and it is evolving, I suppose.
DeleteI would definitely have sighed at that joke book! A similar example which annoys me is the new use of "least worst option". I don't know if it has made it to the USA yet, but I hear it all the time here, from politicians, journalists, commentators. There can only be one worst (or several equally bad among a range), so the phrase makes no sense. If they mean the "least bad" option, what is wrong with saying that?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your mum had a happy last birthday with her favourite food, and both of you to help celebrate. I suppose, like other English teachers, she would have been disappointed to see that joke book. I recall in Japan being shown examples of bad English and being asked to explain the grammar. It makes the job impossible!
Good that you are getting the latest jabs organised. My parents are booked in too. I don't know whether I want to try for another one or not. (I won't get it unless I ask/beg.)
I don't think I've heard "least worst option" yet, but, no doubt it might spread over to us, eventually.
DeleteThank you, Lady Ella. I think, by that time, my mother might have forgotten it was her birthday until we presented her with a cake (earlier that month, she had asked me who I was, thinking I was a cleaning lady, asking me who was paying me and what time I was going home; she didn't believe me when I told her that I was her daughter and then, the next day, she called me at the office to say that the cleaning lady didn't show up! LOL) But, she never forgot the fact that she had been a teacher!
I hope you are able to get vaccinated if you want one.
I'm glad you managed to avoid any unwanted side effects from your vaccination ;)
ReplyDeleteThis morning, I took Lily shopping for some new clothes and shoes (she keeps growing!) and tomorrow we're going swimming. Xx
Thank you, Jules. Sounds like a fun weekend, shopping and swimming. :)
DeleteMost Funniest is definitatly not correct! I think that, in general, non-native English speakers have better grammar than many native speakers! I think this might be so for other languages as well.
ReplyDeleteI also got the COVID vaccine on Friday, and the flu one at the same time but different arms. The one where the COVID shot was is very sore, the other fine. I had a rough night but now feel no ill effects. I wasn't offered any treat or special deal!
I think you are right, Celie; when we learn a language by studying it, we learn the rules of that language. But, when we learn to speak a language without studying it, we don't always learn the grammar and rules until much later, if ever.
DeleteOh, you were brave to get both vaccines at the same time! I'm sorry your arm was sore and you had a rough night. I'm glad that you are feeling well, now. I'm sorry you were not given a treat or special deal!
Having a good background in English grammar is almost a curse, as it really grates to see or hear poor English (ESL users can be forgiven, but they are usually correct in what they come out with, unlike some people with English as their mother tongue). I suspect that the Joke book is trying to be over the top with the cover, but it "grates" just the same!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure the joke book was going a bit over the top with the title. It just seemed so wrong to me. A child who was about 8 or 9 years old was looking through the books on the rack and I thought that titles like the one on the joke book must be so confusing.
DeleteLovely memories of Mum. That joke book would have made me laugh. I didn't grow up with English as a second language, but when I emigrated here (from England) my English was quite different. One of the funny memories from my son's childhood was when he was in school and they were asked who spoke two languages. He put up his hand and said he spoke American and English!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. :)
DeleteOh, your son's response was great! :D I learned British English; when I came over here, I had to learn different words and spelling!
That certainly isn't good English. One that I hear said by news presenters sometimes is "it's almost exactly one year since....". It's either almost one year or exactly one year since it can't be both! We aren't offered anything when we have our jabs, so unfair :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, it can't be almost exactly!
DeleteI'm sorry you weren't offered a treat after your injections. Apparently Celie (see above) didn't receive anything, either!
But what if it is a little bit more than one year? That is neither almost a year, nor is it exactly a year. "Approximately a year" could be a few weeks more or less than one year, and doesn't seem to convey the closeness to one year that this phrase is trying to express. I'm not saying I disagree, I just can't think of another way one could say it.
DeleteAnyway, I found another one yesterday: "£5 off on your next purchase". What is the "on" doing in there?!
If it is a little bit more than one year, then, I would say just that, "It's been a little more than a year" or, if less than a year, "It's a little less than a year" or, "It's been almost a year". :)
DeleteI've no idea what the "on" was doing in that sentence! :)
What if you don't know whether it is more or less? e.g. I saw my Japanese teacher last year and was excited when it hit me that it had been "almost exactly" ten years since the last time we'd met. All I could say for sure was that it was the 20somethingth of September. Now that I know this phrase is frowned upon I'll certainly think twice before using it, but I am not sure there is another which quite expresses the same thing. Does it apply to "almost perfect" or "almost identical" as well? "Almost identical" = "almost [exactly] the same"? I've been tying my brain in knots.
DeleteNo need to publish this if it irritates you or other readers - I think/hope you know am not trying to pick a fight, I am genuinely fascinated by this stuff. Sloppy English annoys me, so I don't want to be guilty of using it. I need to ask Dad for his take.
As for "off on", it doesn't really annoy me so much as intrigue me. Every time I see it, I wonder both how it started and how it became so ubiquitous. Did a marketer somewhere make a conscious decision to put it down, and if so why? A legal reason? Or was it just someone's weird idiom which has since been copied from company to company without a thought? (I am not expecting you to have an answer, I'm just, as I say, fascinated.)
PS. Don't even get me started on "off of" - as in "Get off of the grass!" Do they say that in America? When I was little, there was a dinner lady who used to shout it all the time, and it was weird. Now, it seems to have become the norm.
I'm going now (yes, really.)
I enjoy this type of conversation, Lady Ella, because it intrigues me, too. English is a living language which continues to evolve and English grammar is quirky. You raise a good point when you ask if "almost perfect" or "almost identical" fall into the same category as "almost exactly". Obviously, something is either perfect or it is not! Something is either identical or it is not! But, I've heard both those phrases and others, including, "almost heaven" to describe a certain degree of similarity and have not felt that they were incorrect. Maybe it's because usage makes certain words and phrases more acceptable over time?
DeleteAs for staying off the grass, the usual signs over here say, "Keep off the grass". I think people use additional (usually unnecessary) prepositions for additional emphasis or, perhaps in their opinion, for additional clarity. Just like the "most funniest" I mentioned in the post! :D
Yes, that wording is not correct but I guess it was assumed that phrasing it that way indicated an extreme. Still it's not correct and a bit jarring to read.
ReplyDeleteI got my Covid vaccine last Tuesday along with the flu shot. Same time, same arm. :)
No treats at my CVS :(
Yes, I'm sure they titled the book that way to get added emphasis; it was not just the funniest, it was the most funniest! *roll eyes*
DeleteYou were brave to get both vaccines at the same time, same arm! Well done! Sorry about the lack of treats, though!